So many words. So little time.
Author: tamaramorning
Merry Christmas!
I’ve been getting a good amount of work done lately. Editing on the Atlantis story is going well. The writing is still much stronger than I remembered, which pleases me. I haven’t made any major changes yet, but I know the latter part of the story will probably need some additional work. Nerina is a much more well-defined character than I remember her being, but being in her head comes back easily to me, and so does being in that world. I think that’s a good sign.
I’ve got two chapters to write in the zombie story. One of them is pretty straightforward. The other will probably end up being dark and tense, with the characters expecting the boogeyman to jump out at any second. (Hey, it’s a story about zombies. What did you expect?) Also on the zombie front, I ordered Mark Henry’s Happy Hour of the Damned. It sounds pretty funny, and I’m looking forward to reading it.
Last, but far from least, I’m still doing pre-work on the YA werewolf story. I was at the mall a few days ago, and saw a pair of shoes that the female MC would definitely wear. They were black Mary Janes with little skulls and crossbones on them.
Me: “Oh, those shoes are perfect for Chance. She would love them!”
My younger brother (looking confused): “Who is Chance?”
And then I went home and happily spent an hour Googling Goth clothes and picking out outfits for Chance to wear. It’s sad, really. And I’m afraid she likes pink. That, to me, doesn’t go so well with the whole Goth idea, but she’s determined she will also have a pair of hot pink Doc Marten boots. Go figure. I don’t even like pink! She’s coming through loud and clear. Now if only her brother, Cade, would start speaking up for himself…
Actually, there’s not a whole lot going on, at least not on the writing front. I’ve been editing my NaNo 2007 story (which is still untitled). I’m… surprised by it. I think the beginning of it is very strong, and although it’s early yet, I have hopes that it is better than I remember. (Of course, last year I had big goals for NaNo and for whatever reason, I lost all motivation two weeks in and barely got 50k. Good to know the story is stronger than that.).
I’m in the very early planning stages for a new story, and this one came out of nowhere, and has taken over my brain, demanding to be written now. So, I’m going to start it in January. Just as soon as I get a few more things figured out, and the characters named, and the plot in some sort of rational order. You know, the usual things. It’s something a little new for me. Another YA, but an urban fantasy this time. And, of all things, it’s about a werewolf. Or two. Or six. Not sure, but at least three. I don’t know why it’s grabbed me so much, but it has. Now I need to do some research on Goths to start with. That should be interesting. At least the characters that showed up weren’t emo…
I feel like either my brains are about to fall out, or my eyes are. Not sure which. But I finished! Yay! Dang, but the last 1,000 words were the worst. I know there are a lot of “he said” and “she said” that will need to be ruthlessly weeded out in edits, but I am proud of myself. I wrote every single day this month. Every day. Even that one brutal 15-hour work day. Woot! Congratulations to everyone else out there who finished (Way to go Walkingstick! I know your son is proud.) Now I can finally get some rest.
Today’s Word Count: 5,376
Total Word Count: 100,025
Again, the writing flowed really well today. I hit my word count. The story is moving, and I am right in the middle of the action-packed ending. Is it sad that I feel like “only” having to write 5,000 words tomorrow is a good thing? I have three chapters left as well, one with quite a bit of action, and two wrap-up chapters. But I’m feeling okay with the writing right now.
Today’s Word Count: 7, 627
Total Words: 5,014
Words Remaining: 94,986
Another good writing day, thankfully, since I’m so close to the end. The words really flowed well today, and I hit my word count goal without too much trouble. I’m looking forward to finishing this story, though. And my brain is already burning with editing ideas. I did have a slight mishap this afternoon. There was some kind of error when I was saving a chapter, and my Word program closed. When I reopened it, the file was corrupted. Part of it was still there, mixed in with little boxes and funny symbols. I wanted to bang my head against the keyboard, but I managed to resist. I’ll just have to go back and fix it later. And yes, I did count those words.
Today’s Word Count: 7,563
Total Word Count: 87,359
Words Remaining: 12,641
Just as I was getting ready to post here last night, my computer randomly disconnected the internet. I decided that was a sign, and went to bed. I did get quite a lot of writing done yesterday, thankfully, and a little bit on Wednesday as well. I made a pretty good dent in it, actually, although I do have a nice chunk left to go. But the writing went well yesterday, and so far, it is going well today. The end is in sight!
Wednesday’s Word Count: 1,501
Yesterday’s Word Count: 7,526
Total Word Count: 79,496
Words Remaining: 20,504
Okay, so I had another dismal writing day yesterday. I did make up for part of it today, but I have a grueling five days ahead of me to meet my goal. And I will meet my goal. I am determined. I have not come this close and this far to fail at the end. Is it a bad thing that I’m already mentally making notes about everything that will need fixed in the next draft?
Yesterday’s Word Count: 111 (I seem to like that number on bad days.)
Today’s Word Count: 4,015
Total Word Count: 70,469
Words Remaining: 29,531
Apparently, I was still exhausted yesterday, since I got barely any words, even though I was off. I did a little better today. I’m going to have to work pretty hard to hit my goal, though. Only a week left!
Yesterday’s Word Count: 403
Today’s Word Count: 2,525
Total Word Count: 66,343
Words Remaining: 33,657
I have to admit, the last two days were not good writing days. Not because the words didn’t flow, but because there wasn’t time for the words to flow. The 14-hour day I had on Thursday turned into a 15-hour, super-busy day. I did write when I got home, a whopping 111 words, but then had to immediately crawl into bed and try to get some sleep so I wouldn’t be a zombie for the 11-hour day I ended up on yesterday. (That didn’t exactly work, either, because I was a zombie. And I had a headache from about 5 p.m. Thursday, until I woke up this morning. Not a fun experience.) Yesterday, I wrote all of 101 words. This brings my NaNo total up to 63,415. I am now behind schedule for my word count, but at least I did write both days, and I’m proud of that. Now I’ll just have to work a little bit harder to try to catch up to where I want to be.
Tomorrow Is Another Day 